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Edexcel Unit 4 - Tectonics (and structuring!)

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[QUOTE="Kuggins;37983666"]
Original post by winningjojo
Responses are my weaker point but the June 2010 paper was very similar the only difference being that our steer refers to the EFFECTIVENESS too.

Hi guys,
I totally agree that we should really be focusing on how factors influence the effectiveness of responses......if we focus simply on how factors influence responses, that's a totally different thing!

In light of that, I've been thinking that I might structure my report by case study, as I think this might put across how a combination of factors often determines whether or not a response is effective.
Basically, my teachers have told me to arrange it by the factors, so use subtitles like 'magnitude', 'level of development', 'level of scientific understanding' etc. My problem with this is that, if I just discuss ONE factor that relates to a case study response, I'm surely not explaining why the response as a whole was or was not effective? So, if I just say that magnitude influenced the effectiveness of the Haiti response, that's not really true, is it? There was also the fact that Haiti is an LDC, so couldn't spend much on preparedness or development of scientific understanding.

So I'm planning to maybe have subtitles like 'The effectiveness of the Haiti Earthquake Response', and then discuss all of the different physical/human factors that influenced how effective the response was. I would then do the same for a lot of other, contrasting case studies, to draw out the range of responses.

Sorry if this is long winded....does anyone agree? What do you think of this approach?


My teacher told me a very similar thing to do it by factors as that will make you talk about the effectiveness. After properly looking at the question, I've realized that it is more tricky then when i first looked.
I wouldn't personally do it by case study as that is something out teacher told us not to do cause supposedly edexcel aren't fans of doing reports by case study and prefer themes.

I think the approach of factors is the best way and try and incorporate little bits of case studies to each factors would be a good way to go
Original post by joenye
The answer to all your troubles lies within the Cumulative Act-Effect model (Reason, 1990).

(Shows how it is a combination of hazard layers and vulnerability layers that must combine to produce a disaster).


This looks good, although it still is only talking about the different factors that cause a disaster, rather than saying what factors influence the effectiveness of human responses to a disaster. Inevitably though, many of the factors leading to a disaster (e.g as you mentioned, vulnerability) will also influence the effectiveness of a response.
Reply 62
Original post by Katherine600


I wouldn't personally do it by case study as that is something out teacher told us not to do cause supposedly edexcel aren't fans of doing reports by case study and prefer themes.

I think the approach of factors is the best way and try and incorporate little bits of case studies to each factors would be a good way to go


Would you say then that edexcel not liking that structure is the only reason not to organise it like that? I'm struggling to think of many other reasons not to!...

I'm kinda thinking that if they really didn't want us to organise it by case study, they would have expressly said somewhere?...Does anyone know if it was in the specification or anything?
Perhaps they generally don't like it because people lose sight of the question by just 'telling the story' of the case study...maybe if I organised it by case study but kept a sharp focus on factors influencing effectiveness, they wouldn't mind?

I think the reason I'm so reluctant to do it by factors is because I feel like, if I split the factors up into sections, I'll lose sight of how they actually worked together to influence effectiveness of response in each case study.
I agree that if you organise it by case study, you run a risk of explaining the case study instead of focusing on the question. Besides, they prefer you to include lots of little examples of case studies instead of major ones (Cameron Dunn came to our college and said so himself).
Original post by Kuggins
Would you say then that edexcel not liking that structure is the only reason not to organise it like that? I'm struggling to think of many other reasons not to!...

I'm kinda thinking that if they really didn't want us to organise it by case study, they would have expressly said somewhere?...Does anyone know if it was in the specification or anything?
Perhaps they generally don't like it because people lose sight of the question by just 'telling the story' of the case study...maybe if I organised it by case study but kept a sharp focus on factors influencing effectiveness, they wouldn't mind?

I think the reason I'm so reluctant to do it by factors is because I feel like, if I split the factors up into sections, I'll lose sight of how they actually worked together to influence effectiveness of response in each case study.


I got an A in this paper this January; everyone else in my class got a D or below because they structured it by case study.

Make a point, then bring in evidence from multiple case studies to support yourself in that paragraph. Organising it by case study is showing the examiner that all you've done is memorised the case study, not applying it to the question. Organising it by factors shows you can compare between different case studies, which they want to see.

For example, one of paragraphs was about response times to tectonic activity. I talked about the Kobe Japan earthquake, which had quite a poor response at the time, then compared it to the Tōhoku Japan 2011 earthquakes, and how the response had gotten better over time.

In my other paragraphs I compared case studies like Montserrat with the Icelandic volcanoes, the susceptibility of California to earthquakes compared to low risk tectonic areas such as the UK, the ability of countries to respond to tectonic events, such as comparing Haiti with the USA, etc.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Flyteryder
I got an A in this paper this January; everyone else in my class got a D or below because they structured it by case study.

Make a point, then bring in evidence from multiple case studies to support yourself in that paragraph. Organising it by case study is showing the examiner that all you've done is memorised the case study, not applying it to the question. Organising it by factors shows you can compare between different case studies, which they want to see.

For example, one of paragraphs was about response times to tectonic activity. I talked about the Kobe Japan earthquake, which had quite a poor response at the time, then compared it to the Tōhoku Japan 2011 earthquakes, and how the response had gotten better over time.

In my other paragraphs I compared case studies like Montserrat with the Icelandic volcanoes, the susceptibility of California to earthquakes compared to low risk tectonic areas such as the UK, the ability of countries to respond to tectonic events, such as comparing Haiti with the USA, etc.


I like this idea in particular very much :beard:
Original post by Kuggins
Would you say then that edexcel not liking that structure is the only reason not to organise it like that? I'm struggling to think of many other reasons not to!...

I'm kinda thinking that if they really didn't want us to organise it by case study, they would have expressly said somewhere?...Does anyone know if it was in the specification or anything?
Perhaps they generally don't like it because people lose sight of the question by just 'telling the story' of the case study...maybe if I organised it by case study but kept a sharp focus on factors influencing effectiveness, they wouldn't mind?

I think the reason I'm so reluctant to do it by factors is because I feel like, if I split the factors up into sections, I'll lose sight of how they actually worked together to influence effectiveness of response in each case study.


Doing it by case study means your more likely to focus on the case study and just say details about it rather then focussing on the question, like what joenye andFlyterder said.

Doing an essay or report by case study at A2 level, isn't seen as A2 standard as it doesn't really show initiative. Its not written in the mark schemes or specifications that i know of but has been mentioned in past Examiner Reports. In the Jan 2010 this was said in relation to framework:

'Getting the correct framework was a major key to success: for example the use of the management cycle was better than the commonly used simple MEDC/LEDC split or sweeping generalisations based on 3 detailed case studies on volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis.'

Generally doing it by case studies can make it harder to write a good report, if you are able to there is no reason why you shouldn't do it, but you have to be aware that in most cases they are marked lower.

I completely understand what you mean by losing factors, this question is very broad, but i think how they work together to influence effectiveness only needs to be stated in the conclusion. You can write a couple of sentences through the analysis but its in the conclusion where your final decision should be made to the importance of factors.

By doing a factor per paragraph you are able to analysis the factor and can compare it to different case studies e.g. MEDC vs LEDC, Kobe vs Sendai (time factor), and just bring in relevant information from each case study to each factor.
Reply 67
That's really helpful feedback from all of you, thank you so much! I think I need to move on to the factors approach then :smile:
Although that extract from the examiner's report is interesting..."for example the use of the management cycle"...perhaps that might be a way to to avoid losing the links between factors?
Time for some serious thinking haha :wink:
Thanks again!
Original post by Kuggins
Would you say then that edexcel not liking that structure is the only reason not to organise it like that? I'm struggling to think of many other reasons not to!...

I'm kinda thinking that if they really didn't want us to organise it by case study, they would have expressly said somewhere?...Does anyone know if it was in the specification or anything?
Perhaps they generally don't like it because people lose sight of the question by just 'telling the story' of the case study...maybe if I organised it by case study but kept a sharp focus on factors influencing effectiveness, they wouldn't mind?

I think the reason I'm so reluctant to do it by factors is because I feel like, if I split the factors up into sections, I'll lose sight of how they actually worked together to influence effectiveness of response in each case study.


t by factors but each of your 'mmini' conclusions should show a build up of the picture showing how things add together to impact the effectiveness of response. You need a wide range of case studies the best answers have around 8 so by organising your report by case study would be limiting the amount of marks you could get too.
Reply 69
I think the time we have for this exam is harsh. It takes me 10 minutes to draw a diagram never mind write an introduction :frown:
Original post by iamkeeley
I think the time we have for this exam is harsh. It takes me 10 minutes to draw a diagram never mind write an introduction :frown:


So true - it's going to be dire managing with the time.

My 'practise' model answer is 2,000 words :s
Reply 71
One thing im getting confused about is what mitigation and adaptation means in terms of tectonics. I know in terms of climate change, but need a definition for tectonics... can you help?
Anyone got any practice reports to share? Really cheeky I know!
Reply 73
how do you do a method table???? upload example please
Original post by erw
One thing im getting confused about is what mitigation and adaptation means in terms of tectonics. I know in terms of climate change, but need a definition for tectonics... can you help?


Mitigation and adaption can be shown by the risk perception process. Simply by drawing a horizontal line:


Do Nothing<-------------------|Modify the hazard|----------------->Leave

This is the Risk Perception Process (Holmes et Warn, 2008).

You can refer to this figure throughout your report to show how different factors (e.g. frequency of hazards) have prompted different responses (e.g. very low frequency events are more likely to prompt the do nothing/modify the hazard response) and how these responses determine effectiveness (e.g. the do nothing response is likely to result in very little preparation and subsequently a greater impact and worse response, such as in the Asian Tsunami).

Just some food for thought.
Original post by flying_ifan
So true - it's going to be dire managing with the time.

My 'practise' model answer is 2,000 words :s


I wish mine was that short, mine is 3400 and have cut out 1000 words already :frown:
Reply 76
does anyone have any contrasting case studies and notes they dont mind sharing!?
Reply 77
So far the case studies I am looking at are:

Christchurch Earthquake 2011
Haiti Earthquake 2010
Chile Earthquake 2010

Montseratt Volcano 1997
Mount Pinatubo 1991
Mount St Helen's 1980 (or Iceland 2010, not entirely sure yet...I just prefer St Helen's haha)

Japanese Tsunami 2011
Asian Tsunami 2004

Are these complex enough? would I need more or could I even learn less than this? Gimme ya thoughts :smile:
Reply 78
ive literally had no help from my teacher for this exam! i dont think she knows much about it either!
But what ive gathered is is if it says..'the factors' to do it by factor such as..economic development, preparedness, political stability etc. rather than doing case study and just to write a few sentences about the case study rather than a story!? i hope im right about that!!

i guess it all depends on the question! but it says 'the effectiveness' - seeing as ive had no help from a teacher i was wondering if someone could help me on how you can analyse the effectiveness of say the governments, or local peoples response!!
i was thinking the parks model could be used to show whether after the response whether the quality of life went back to normal! however i have no idea if thats right?! i just dont know what to put for the effectiveness! Im so panicking about this exam ha! and i was just wondering if anybody could give me some advice!! thankyou so much!
Reply 79
I'm so glad I've read this post, my teacher hadn't pointed out the importance of "the effectiveness"!!

Just a quick question, is "methodology" really necessary in the report? I can't quite see how it fits with the question?

I could be completely wrong, but I wanted to check! The short time limit in the exam means everything has to be of importance,

Thanks

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